20.04.2011 - 25.04.2011
For our Easter trip this year we headed off to Rome, Italy to see if we could get some sunshine and do a little bit of sightseeing, as it is too early in the season for swimming or diving for us. We departed Oslo in the evening and arrived closer to midnight, the taxi ride only took 15 minutes and we were soon at our hotel the Albergo Sirenetta in the city Lido di Ostia.
After a good night's sleep we had a quick (not very exciting) breakfast and looked at our balcony, which overlooked the beach. We headed out for a long walk on the boardwalk along the beach, as it was a bit cool in the morning. After lunch on the beach it was time for the beach, we found a nice spot and enjoyed the warm sun and the smell of the ocean. While we had been walking we noticed that there were many houses on the beach that looked like small closets or outhouses, so when we got back to the hotel I had to ask and soon found out that they were small changing rooms that had showers and were rented out for the season to the people of Rome that come to the beach (the price being anywhere from 2000 to 5000 euro), mystery solved.
For dinner we decided to eat at a gourmet restaruant caled Il Tino that we had been reading about but it did not open until eight in the evening. Not good for Jorunn as we all know she is always hungry, so we decided to have a small snack and a glass of wine first. We found a small family-owned wine bar close to the restaurant, inside we found shelves filled with tea, a counter with chocolates, an small espresso bar and a small seating area. We ordered a couple of small snacks but when the food and wine came there was a lot more than we ordered in food and wine and all for 10 euro, very cheep for us Norwegians.
We were a bit tipsy when got to Il Tino but we were promptly buzzed in, (you have to ring the door bell to get in). We ordered a 6 course menu with wine and had a fantastic meal with wines from small local wineries, they were very good and they had lot's of interesting combinations (the waiter was very good he knew a lot about both food and wine).
We woke to a cool and overcast day (we were also a bit tired from the night before) so off to Rome we went, after a 30 minute tram ride we arrived in Rome where we took a short ride on the underground and popped up right in front of the Colosseum. What a mad house, there were people and gladiators everywhere and the queues snaking everywhere (chaos). We tried to get into the Palatine Hill where it looked like there were not too many people but the queue was totally disorganized. We ended up hopping on a tourist bus to get away from the crowds (We later found out that Pope was at the Colosseum and thus the chaos and the crowds).
I not going describe all the things we saw (or passed by in a bus) but I will leave a link to Wikipdia for those of you that would like to know more.
Isola Tiberina
Citta Del Vaticano
Piazza Navona
Pantheon
Fontana Di Trevi
Piazza Di Spagna
Piazza Venezia
After an eventful few hours in Rome we head back to Lido Di Ostia and some much needed relaxation.
After a long day in Rome we decided to stay in Ostia for a day and took long walks on the boardwalk by the beach enjoying the fresh sea air. Ostia is a great little place with good restaurants & mainly Italian tourists, and easy to walk around.
The next morning we got up early and arrived in Rome about 8:30 to find very few people around so we hurried into the Colosseum to see where so many people and animals had been killed for sport. The Colosseum is an amazing place so we took our time and looked around before the crowds came. Next was the Roman Forum. We had to walk a lot, but found this area to be very interesting with scattered remains of the old market, financial district, speakers corner and much more.
After walking through the ruins for a while we walked to Palatine Hill where there were less people and lot's of open space. At one point we reached a vantage point which gave us a great view of the Colosseum before finding a nice park bench to enjoy the sunshine.
As the sun was shining and the day was getting warmer we headed back to Ostia for lunch then to the beach to enjoy the warm sunshine and the salty sea air. That evening we walked through the walk streets where small tents had been set up for the Easter chocolates that are very popular and there was a steady stream of customers and children ran in every direction. We found a small wine bar where we enjoyed some wine and some very nice snacks while watching all the locals go about their business or doing the same as us and enjoying a drink and a tasty snack. After dinner we took a walk out to the pier to enjoy the stars before heading back to the hotel.
Our last day in Ostia was once again on the boardwalk where there where lot's of people so we decided to go to the marina and soon found out that lot's of other people had the same idea. We joined the crowd stopping for ice cream, looked at the boats, looked through the shops and checked out some Harley Davidson's that were also there. It was time to head home so we walked back to the hotel and picked up our bags for the flight home.
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